Those things in the old Tianqiao Theater

The former Tianqiao Theater left a deep impression in the minds of a generation. Like many new buildings in Beijing, it has a steady and dignified image and a quiet expression. More than half a century passed quickly. Let's listen to Professor Chang Li's revisiting of the Old Tianqiao Theater.

China in the 1950s.

In the early 1950s, just after the founding of New China, it began to establish cultural exchanges with European countries, which basically did not exist before liberation.

An important part of communication is about drama communication, which requires the construction of theaters equivalent to international standards. However, there was only one auditorium in China at that time.

Few cinemas have international counterparts. What can become a "theater" is either left over from the Qing Dynasty or an improved theater during the Republic of China.

Most of them are mainly singing Beijing opera. For example, there is a Tianchan stage and a big stage in Shanghai, and a real light theater in Donghuamen, Beijing. Now it is a children's theater.

The Ming Grand Theatre, later renamed zhushikou Cinema, has been demolished.

195 1 year, Mr. Chang Li had the opportunity to study theater design and drama performance in Eastern Europe. After returning home, he was invited because the country needed to build a theater.

Please be the consultant of the theater construction of the Ministry of Culture, and often work with the chief engineer of the Ministry of Culture to formulate relevant documents for theater construction. Because the country was in economic transition at that time.

In difficult times, provincial and municipal cultural bureaus are required to build theaters in two or three phases, and at the same time, 500,000 yuan will be allocated to provincial theaters and municipal dramas at one time.

One-time allocation of 300,000 yuan. Tianqiao Theater is the first theater in China to be built in the capital, so the first-phase appropriation of 700,000 yuan is an exception.

Construction funds.

Building the Old Tianqiao Theater in Stages

At that time, in order to reduce the demolition, Tianqiao Wanshengxuan Theater and Xiaotaoyuan Theater were chosen to build Tianqiao Theater. At the beginning of construction, establish

The planning group clearly requires that the stage space and auditorium space be as close as possible to international practice, and the design drawings are completely in accordance with the standard theater design. sequence

The first-phase fund is only 700,000 yuan, so we can only build a small front hall, a conditional auditorium and a main stage, and other auxiliary tables and dressing rooms are not set up separately.

Yes, the dressing room is temporarily under the stage. There is no vestibule in the auditorium, only a corridor 3 meters wide, so everything should be simplified. The first stage of the work

The architect is Liu Shiming, and the theater technical consultant is Qi Mudong. 1953165438+1After the first phase of the project ended in October, Mei Lanfang came here to perform.

Then the East Berlin Police Brass Band performed.

Just after performing 1 month, I received the news that the Moscow Music Theatre of the Soviet Union would come to China Tianqiao Theatre to perform. Put on three major operas: Austria

Neijin, The Tempest, Chabrocher on the Danube and three ballets, Swan Lake, Notre Dame and Ayiba.

Dr park jung-soo, commemorating the 5th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Soviet union. However, to stage such a large-scale opera, it is required that the theater can accommodate all the scenery of these six major dramas.

The theater equipment must have the ability to change a large set of plays within 3 ~ 4 hours. So the expansion of Tianqiao Theater was forced.

Chang Li

Professor, Department of Stage Art, Central Academy of Drama. 1949 graduated from Nanjing National Theatre Academy. Successive Central Academy of Drama

Dance Troupe, Stage Designer and Librarian of China Youth Art Troupe. Participate in the design of Tianqiao Theater and capital theatre.

Works, witnessed the development of drama art in New China for decades. Stage design works include Peach Blossom Fan and Yuan Ye.

Thunderstorm, etc.

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It is imminent. The people's government requires the second phase expansion of Tianqiao Theater to be completed within 50 days, including:

(1) Transform the whole stage, expand an auxiliary stage with an area of about 400m2, increase the load of the stage tower and increase the number of roof trusses.

(2) Expand the front desk lounge, VIP lounge and lounges on both sides of the audience, and expand the balcony lounge and lounge.

(3) Rebuild the original orchestra pit to accommodate 80 musicians. The auditorium was completely renovated, and the VIP box on the second floor was built; Change the audience

All the seats are lit.

(4) Transform the artistic lighting control equipment. Siemens wire manipulator (50-way) made in the Soviet Union is used to keep high voltage away from workers.

Centralize operations and reduce procedures.

(5) Add three layers of dressing room and rehearsal hall backstage.

(6) Thoroughly improve the heating, cooling, ventilation and sanitary equipment serving the audience, so as to make it close to the international common standards.

The architects of the second phase expansion project are Zhang Boyi and Fang Boyi from Beijing Architectural Design Institute, and the theater technical consultants are Chang Li and Chen Zhi. Because of God.

The first phase of the Bridge Theater is based on the building codes of the Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Germany, and the phased construction will not affect its quality at all, so it will be built in the second phase.

Formed a theater that is also the first in China that can be in line with international practices. After 50 days of expansion, the Old Tianqiao Theater ushered in the Voice of Moscow as scheduled.

The performance of the Music Theater achieved good results, and the artists agreed with the arrangement of some dressing rooms around the backstage rehearsal hall. So this

In the following years, China's important operas, dance dramas and important international exchanges were held here.

After that, the old Tianqiao Theater was expanded several times, mainly by adding the front hall and facilities specially for VIP service.

Technical Realization of Old Tianqiao Theater

Western theaters are generally divided into English-speaking countries and continental Europe. Due to different habits and systems, the theater design is different.

No, the theater design in continental Europe is more traditional and refined. Mr. Chang Li worked in the National Academy of Drama (later merged into the Central Academy of Drama).

I learned the theater system of Britain and America, but it was the theater system of continental Europe that the Soviet Union learned after the founding of New China.

In the first stage of the building, the stage in the Old Tianqiao Theater is 22 meters wide, 16.75 meters deep and 16.5 meters high. The audience duration is

33m, 22m wide, total audience 1.600. Among them, the width and height inside the stage are slightly less than the international standard, but still close to the standard.

In terms of theater equipment manufacturing, China is unprecedented. The stage scenery is climbed up the beam by people and adjusted by manual pulleys.

The scenery takes at least two or three days, while in Europe, it only takes one or two hours to adjust the boom mechanically. American theaters have always kept the tradition of manual suspenders until today.

In Europe, Germany took the lead in inventing the electric or hydraulic control of suspenders. 1952, investigated all the existing theaters in China at that time.

There are only three suspenders. After calculation, the Old Tianqiao Theater needs about 35 suspenders, which is the first theater in China to install suspenders according to international practice.

After China, all theaters began to use our own suspenders.

The control of stage lighting needs a centralized console to achieve a certain artistic effect, but there was no excellent console at that time, just a water tank.

Put salt water in the pot, use two iron plates as positive and negative electrodes, take a wooden stick, and use the proximity or distance of the iron plates to realize the fading of light. But this way

It is difficult to realize the dozens of loop control required for theater lighting. In the end, the old Tianqiao Theater chose the Siemens wire manipulator copied by the Soviet Union, which can be controlled at the same time.

Make 50 sets of lights. Later, through the joint efforts of domestic mechanical engineers and electrical engineers, our reformed lighting control equipment reached the international level.

The Capital Theatre in the same period.

Mr. Chang Li also participated in the construction of the Capital Theatre as a stage craft design consultant, and the designers were He Cui.

At that time, Tashkent Theater was promoted by the Soviet architectural community in the 1950s, so the Capital Theater was deeply influenced by it, and the plane and facade of the theater were generally regular.

Simple, designed according to the dual-purpose mode of opera and drama, the stage part also has a backstage, which is equivalent to the knot of Tashkent Theatre and Old Tianqiao Theatre.

Form. Capital theatre has been dedicated by Beijing people's art to this day, which is a typical way of combining field and group, achieving theater and Beijing people's art.

The theater attracted everyone's attention together.

As the first opera and dance theater in China that meets the national standards, the Old Tianqiao Theater played an important role in the later theater construction.

It has played a positive demonstration role and opened an important chapter for the spread of western opera and ballet culture in China.